State Assembly approves RM1,004,195,850 Supplementary Supply Bill

KOTA KINABALU (July 9): The State Assembly on Tuesday approved the 2024 Supplementary Supply Bill of RM1,004,195,850 for several expenditure heads.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said the total additional allocations for the year 2024 are divided into six categories of expenditure.

The first expenditure category is Contributions to the Development and Trust Fund amounting to RM295 million or 30 per cent, which is the highest expenditure, he said.

He added that this is followed by Operational Expenditure amounting to RM288 million or 29 per cent, covering infrastructure maintenance expenditure; operational expenditure; maintenance and repair of government buildings; logistics services and transportation; scholarship sponsorships as well as the special “one-off” flight ticket assistance for students of higher learning institutions in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Labuan Federal Territory,” he said.

Masidi also said that the third expenditure category is Administrative Expenditure amounting to RM173 million or 17 per cent, which involves expenditure on Special Financial Assistance (Bonus) payments and Leave Replacement Compensation (GCR); emoluments; utility and rental expenditure; as well as living allowance expenditure to smoothen the administrative operations at relevant ministries and state departments.

And the next expenditure category is under Special Provisions, involving repair and maintenance works for basic infrastructure and public facilities such as roads, jetties, water treatment plants, riverbank defences, multipurpose halls, sports stadiums, mosques and public markets amounting to RM101 million or 10 per cent, he said.

Meanwhile, the fifth category is Investment Expenditure amounting to RM80 million or eight per cent for the purchase of shares to generate additional income for the State Government in the form of dividends, he said.

The final expenditure category amounting to RM64 million or six per cent is recommended for the purpose of providing grants to, among others, the Sabah Youth and Sports Ministry, the Local Government and Housing Ministry, and the General Welfare Services Department to facilitate the implementation of programmes that can support the aspirations and efforts of the government in enhancing the delivery of social services and public welfare, Masidi said.

He also informed the August House that the highest amount of RM529 million is allocated to the Finance Ministry.

“Of this amount, RM295 million or 55.8 per cent is additional to the Statutory Funds to reduce the deficit of the Development Account that does not involve actual expenditure and contributions to the Trust Fund,” he said.

“Meanwhile, RM124 million or 23.4 per cent is to finance the implementation of infrastructure and utility projects; riverbank defences; construction and repair of public facilities such as mosques, public markets, multipurpose halls and sports stadiums; as well as operational and administrative expenditure. RM80 million or 15.1 per cent is for Equity Investments, Loans and Conversion to Grants for State Statutory Bodies, and RM30 million or 5.7 per cent to cover other needs such as transportation and logistics services, as well as private vehicle rentals,” said Masidi.

He added that the Works Ministry is allocated an additional RM204.9 million to finance the expenditure on repairs and maintenance of government buildings, plants, sedimentation tanks, concession contracts, and the remainder to cover administrative and operational expenditure.

At the same time, a total of RM109.9 million is allocated to the Chief Minister’s Department to finance scholarship sponsorships; special “one-off” flight ticket assistance for students at higher learning institutions in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan; as well as the maintenance of mosques, suraus, orphanages, and cemeteries, he said.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Ministry is allocated an additional RM55.9 million to finance drainage system maintenance, river cleaning and flood mitigation, as well as operational expenditure; while the Local Government and Housing Ministry is allocated an additional RM32.1 million, among others, for contributions and assistance to local authorities and increasing allowances for traditional chiefs (Ketua Adat), he said.

Masidi said the Youth and Sports Ministry is allocated RM31.9 million to upgrade Likas Stadium amounting to RM12.2 million and to sponsor the Sabah contingent to the 21st Malaysia Games (Sulma) Sarawak and the 2024 Sarawak Malaysia Para Games amounting to RM15 million.

“For other ministries and State departments, an additional RM39.9 million is allocated to cover expenditure such as assistance to orphans and the poor; the disaster relief fund; youth skills sponsorships as well as administrative and operational expenditure,” he said.

Masidi also informed the August House that development expenditure requires an additional allocation of RM230,887,894.00 involving 49 allocation votes under 11 ministries as stated in CMD paper 2 of 2024.

“Of this amount, RM221.93 million or 96.1 per cent is allocated under the State Fund, while RM5.51 million or 2.4 per cent is funded under Federal Repayment. The balance of RM3.45 million or 1.5 per cent is funded under Federal loans,” he said.

He added that the largest allocation under the Additional Development Estimates is RM100.36 million or 43.5 per cent allocated to the Rural Development Ministry to finance small development projects, Special Allocations for State Assemblymen and Additional Economic Activity (AET) Programmes.

Meanwhile, an additional allocation of RM70.46 million, which is the second largest allocation, is allocated to the Chief Minister’s Department to finance land acquisition projects; the reconstruction of the Sabah Forestry Department Archive Building; special development projects; State Projects Information System 2.0; as well as the construction of new mosques and religious schools.

Additionally, an additional allocation of RM3.45 million to the Sabah Land Development Board is for Federal Loan expenditure purposes, he said.

At the same time, RM19.6 million is allocated as an addition to the Works Ministry to finance projects under the Public Works Department currently being implemented and the payment of water concession under the supervision of the Sabah State Water Department, he said.

Masidi said RM10.89 million is recommended as an additional allocation to the Ministry of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship to finance development projects under the supervision of Palm Oil Industrial Cluster Sdn Bhd. (POIC); while the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Ministry is allocated an additional RM9.97 million.

“Of this amount, RM4.46 million is allocated under the State Fund to finance projects of the Sabah Agriculture Department, the Fisheries Department and the Irrigation and Drainage Department,” he said.

Meanwhile, RM5.51 million is allocated under Federal Repayment to finance projects under the Sabah Agriculture Department; construction works under the Department of Veterinary Services and Livestock Industry; and the Irrigation Plan Programme.

Masidi said the Youth and Sports Ministry is also allocated an additional RM7.15 million for the construction and maintenance of sports complexes; while RM5.16 million is allocated to the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry to finance development projects of Sabah Parks, the development of tourism assets, and also development projects under the supervision of the Sabah Museum Department.

At the same time, the Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Ministry is allocated RM4.02 million for the new construction phase II of the administration building and multi-storey quarters of the Air Panas Tawau Old Folks Home, the construction of the Wisma Wanita Container Hostel and new programs under the Sabah Department of Women’s Affairs, he said.

He also said an additional RM2.89 million is allocated to the Local Government and Housing Ministry to finance projects under the supervision of local authorities.